Martin Robson Blue Lake Adventure: Book Deal Agreed

When renowned underwater explorer and technical dive instructor Martin Robson told his amazing story of survival at Eurotek 2012 it was suggested he should write a book about it.

Now, a book deal has been agreed for me to write it with him.

For those who do not know the story, Robson was exploring one of the largest and deepest karst springs in the world, known as Blue Lake, in Russia, as part of an international expedition to trace its origins, and possible unknown cave system.

During a very deep dive, Robson suffered a catastrophic decompression sickness hit.

He was only saved thanks to the kindness of a septuagenarian stranger who travelled halfway across Russia to lead his treatment in a recompression chamber.

Thankfully, this was not just any 70-year-old, but Russia's pre-eminent authority on recompression therapy and the treatment of injured divers.

The story itself is fascinating. The book will explore fully Robson's life, his part in the expedition, the DCS hit that could have killed him and his subsequent recovery.

I envisage, it will also cover themes of loneliness, survival-against-the-odds, the sacrifices one makes to be an explorer, deep tec and rebreather diving. And some fascinating physiological conditions that all divers should be aware of.

Work starts now. A suggested version of Chapter One has already been written and is now being tweaked. More to follow.

For those interested, the first words are: "My legs. I can't feel my legs."